Read the full transcript from QB Malik Willis' media availability on March 12, 2026.
(Welcome, good to have you here. Obviously, you have a lot of relationship with these two gentlemen to your left, Head Coach Jeff Hafley and General Manager Jon Eric Sullivan. Ultimately why was this the place for you?) – "There's a lot of great reasons to be here. Those two guys are the biggest ones, in my opinion, as far as what I see this organization and this team becoming. I can't see the future but all I know is they're going to put in the work each and every day just as well as I will try to do the same. Whatever role, whatever leadership, whatever it is, they brought me in as a piece of the puzzle that they want to put here, and I'm grateful and honored to be a part of that."
(How long have you been waiting for a team to look at you and say, hey, this is your team, this is your organization?) – "I don't think I put a timeline on it. I think it happened when I was prepared. I think when I came into the league, I wasn't prepared, and that's not a knock toward my coaches or myself; that's just what it was coming from the system I came from, and I've had a chance to learn the last four years since I've been in the league. I went through four different offenses and seen a bunch of different defenses, and I just think I've grown a lot and I'm grateful for the opportunity once again."
(How did how did this process work this time since you know these guys? Did they go through your agent? Did they also call you? How the how did that go?) – "I mean, we're here now, so that's what's important, but me and my agent talked about places that may need a quarterback or may be a good fit situation wise. It all played out that we end up being here and that's all that matters."
(I'm sure you impressed General Manager Jon Eric Sullivan and Head Coach Jeff Hafley very much in Green Bay. You had your choice in the matter. What impressed you about them?) – "Just how they go to work each and every day and the way they treat people. I think that's more important than anything when you come to a business that relies around people. I see 'Haf' (Jeff Hafley) every day get excited when one of the DBs makes a play, or a d-lineman gets a sack, or a backer bats the ball down and he's just as excited as the players that are on the field. I see him arguing with Matt (LaFleur) and they go back and forth, and it used to be awesome. Then I see 'Sully' (Jon-Eric Sullivan) in the hallway and I always ask like, 'What are you seeing out of my game?' Because I know they watch all the film in the world and he'll give me details. It's not like, 'Oh, you're doing good. Just keep going.' It'll be like specific details in order to help me get better and I think that's important. You got to be willing to let somebody help you."
(How does your athleticism help you and the team?) – "I think we'll see when that time comes."
(When they came to the Dolphins, was it prominent in your mind, 'Hey, that might be the leading contender for me to make my next stop?') – "I try not to be biased with it. I try to lay it all on the table equally and not make a rash decision. Let God lead me to where I needed to go and just be grateful for anybody that wants to give me an opportunity."
(You said when you came into the league that you knew you weren't prepared for something like this. How did you know?) – "I mean, once you get into it, you're in it, right? Just coming from what I came from, it was just a lot different. You can know but not be a master of it. You can know and not be comfortable and aggressive doing things. You can know and not just trust it, and I think that trusting it is what takes you to the next level and helps you go out there and execute. You've got to be able to trust it because it's not always going to be perfect. It's not always going to be, oh, you see it perfectly, but if you have an idea and you've seen it enough and you trust it, it'll work out a lot of times."
(There's a list of quarterbacks who weren't starters until their fifth year or beyond, Kurt Warner and Jimmy Garoppolo and Tyrod Taylor. I wanted to ask you about patience. How do you stay patient and not think that you're not getting your opportunity and all that. Tell me about the mental attitude that it takes to just kind of chill and wait your turn?) – "I mean, you've got to lean not on your own understanding, that's for sure. You've got to trust in God's plan for your life. He wakes you up and gives you the opportunity to get better, I think that's all you should ask for. When the opportunity arises, that's when you'll be able to take advantage of it but until then, you've got to keep working because if you didn't get the opportunity, that means you weren't ready. Sometimes, like what happened my rookie year, you get an opportunity and you're not ready and it doesn't help you, it doesn't benefit you, but it can kickstart you into the right direction."
(Welcome to Miami, first of all. Head Coach Jeff Hafley joked with us a couple of weeks ago that when you were running scout team, he had to tell you, 'Hey, man, stop all that scrambling. The guy we're playing doesn't do this.' I guess what did that experience of trying to play from the pocket and be more of a pass first quarterback, how did that help you in your development over the past couple of years?) – "I think it helped a lot. Especially, I won't name any names, but we were playing a certain quarterback and he's like, 'This quarterback likes to do this or this.' And I'm watching the film and I'm like, OK, he really does like to do this and this and he's successful to a degree obviously, a playoff guy. But I think it's awesome to think through the process of that and understand why they're doing certain things like that and seeing different schemes and how they operate, I think that's cool. Him being just on it enough to focus on that for preparing his defense, I think that's pretty cool as well, because he's not just letting me go out there and do whatever, he's like, 'OK, we need to prepare these guys for what they're going to see.'"
(What do you think about having RB De'Von Achane and WR Jaylen Waddle as targets to throw to?) – "I think it's awesome. I think they both might be faster than me and that's a good thing. (laughter)"
(You got a college teammate WR CJ Daniels that fans got to know down here. How much are you on General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan to say, 'Hey, if he's available late, you know I'd love to throw passes to him?') – "Hey, man, I'm always going to stand up for my guys. CJ (Daniels) is that dog. He got it in him, but that's out of my lane. All I could do is you know, 'CJ,' (fist pumps) but that's it."
(I believe during that 2022 rookie season, you were benched for not throwing the ball enough in that game by Mike Vrabel. At that moment, did you think that this moment would come?) - "In that moment, I don't think I got benched for not throwing the ball. I got sacked because he said he didn't want me running around anymore and getting hit. (laughter) That's what he told me, but I understand how it could be misconstrued. But I did not think I would be at this point, at this moment in time, because I can't see the future, but I am grateful for it. I think every part of the journey here has been amazing, even the times that were tough and you're like, 'Golly, like, is it ever going to happen?' And then boom, it happens out of nowhere because you just don't know how it's going to go. But all you can do is prepare yourself and do what you can to take advantage of each day."
(What do you plan to do to establish yourself as a leader in the spring and the summer?) – "I feel like leadership, we should all be leading each other. Obviously to earn the position of leadership, that's what you've got to do. You've got to earn it. You've got to do what you need to do each day to prepare, do what you need to do each day to work. You've got to be a guy that can hold people accountable and be held accountable. I think there's a lot that goes into that, and you only can build that over time."
(As far as being a starting quarterback, tell me about, I guess the line between being a leader and being, I guess, too much of a leader. Tell me about your philosophy on that.) – "I feel like there's no such thing. I mean, it starts with us. As far as the way the game is played, you get to snap the ball and it starts with you, but I think that we should all be leading each other. I think that that's the only way it's going to work. We have to be united front because if not, it's not going to work. You can't do this with one player. This is a team game. There's not just one person in the leadership figurehead, I understand it, but at the same time, this is about a team. It's a team."
(This is the best opportunity you've had obviously. How do you process that you're here in this place, in this time, this moment? How does that compute in your mind?) – "You just be where your feet are at. I woke up this morning, I'm blessed to be here, blessed to be talking in front of you guys and be given the opportunity by these guys. That's all it is right now. That's all it is today. We'll worry about tomorrow when we get there."
(I know you were working out when you were talking to some of these teams. Can you talk about your preparation? How much has that changed between now and between rookie and between Green Bay? How much does it change?) – "I think it's changed a lot. You pick up things from guys, and you throw things away that you don't feel like help you. I think the more you know, obviously the cooler you can find ways to kind of trigger that memory, or find old clips and go back and look from where you started to where you are now. I do that every several months and I think it gives you a peace of mind that you are growing no matter what it feels like day to day. And one day you might feel the best in the world, one day you might feel like, 'Ah, I didn't get better today.' You've got to be able to look at the big picture, and I think that's important."
(When you talk about your journey, you've improved your mechanics quite a bit from when you first came into the league, became more efficient. For us who haven't played quarterback, take us through what that process has been Year 1 to 5?) – "It's been great. I mean like you said, my first year didn't go great, so I went to figure out things that might help me. I got down there, I started working out with this guy in Jacksonville, and he started to teach me the mechanics of throwing, right. He teaches me the mechanics of throwing with using my hips and this lower body that I have, this strength that we work for, right, instead of just using all arm all the time – it's just less consistent and it's more strain on your body, right? So it's just working that over the last four years, I think it's been super beneficial. It's helped me become way more accurate and consistent. Obviously, there's times where you got to make throws that are not going to be in perfect platforms and that's whatever God's giving you. But at the same time, whenever you can be consistent, when consistent is there, I think that's great."
(Were there any other teams that were options for you, or was it always, 'I'm going with Sullivan and Hafley?') – "I think that I signed this morning with the Dolphins, and I think that is awesome. I think that that is in the past and we're not going to worry about that. But there was definitely – you know how free agency is. There's always different aspects and variables, but I'm grateful that they gave me the opportunity and I'm here – Fins Up!"
(What are your long range goals in this game? What do you want people to think about when they think about your game, when you're done playing?) – "I want them to think about he gave everything he had out there to try to win games. You only can take it a game at a time, so goals past that, they're ambitious and they're cool, but they're not realistic. All you can do is win today. When you try to win today, and that's talking to you guys and doing all this other stuff that I've got to do, then you try to win tomorrow and get better and get back to training. You do that each day, and then I want them to say, 'That guy was consistent. That guy worked hard and that guy gave it all he had.'"
(That moment in the game when you drop back, first read isn't there, pass protection breaks down. Where does your mind go in that moment, given that you have the athletic abilities that you possess?) – "I mean, it depends on what defense you're getting. It depends on what play call we've got on. It depends on who we're playing against. There's a lot that goes into that. It's a lot of reaction but also premeditated thought based upon all those facts. Sometimes you just get out of there, a lot of space in front of you, you just trust it."
(Everybody who comes here has to get asked about the climate at some point. I know you were an Atlanta kid, but to come back to the South, it does get a little steamy down here…) – "Yeah, but steamy is OK. Steamy is OK, sir. Steamy is all right."
(Any place that you're excited to go in the city?) – "I mean, there's a lot of places I'm excited to go. All these different types of cultures and different types of people around, all these different restaurants, I need to chill out. And then like you said, it's 80 plus every day and I can wear shorts again. So I'm excited to see it all, I'm grateful to be here."
(Do you feel like you were ready for this a year ago or two years ago, or you needed the past couple of years to get to this point?) – "I'm not sure. We only know until you know. So I'm grateful for the opportunity now and that's all I can say. I can't say whether I was ready or not, I can't prove that. You know what I mean? That would be just me being arrogant or prideful, you know? But the opportunity is here now, and I'm going to try to do my best to take advantage of it."
(Have you ever reached out to or spoken with guys like Sam Darnold or Geno Smith, guys in recent memory who had to take a few years as backups before finding their role as a starter?) – "Yeah, I've talked to a few of them in passing, for sure. All the guys usually are real receptive of each other, and we chop it up after the games and talk about all types of things. I think those guys have been great help, just chopping it up with them and being able to see their story, even if not talking about it, see it from afar. I mean, that's awesome stuff. What, it was six years for Sam or five years, sitting down? And boom, he goes to the Super Bowl second year starting full time, and I think that's awesome, that's a blessing for him. I won't put no stuff like that on myself, but just trying to take advantage of the opportunity, for sure."
(What are some things that you know you're much better at now than when you entered the league?) – "I mean, pretty much everything I was doing except for like running around and stuff. I feel like I run around the same, maybe got a little quicker, who knows? All those drills and stuff. Yeah, but I feel like a lot of stuff. Just understanding the mental side of the game for sure, and just absorbing that information and being able to utilize it and not just having a bunch of information and being slow and thinking so much about it. I think that's been awesome, or seeing one thing and be like, 'Oh, I know what I'm getting,' and I think that's been the biggest help."
(How much do you think the move to Green Bay, the trade working under Matt LaFleur, being in the same system consistently helped you in terms of the game slowing down?) – "I think that was awesome. You said it with the being in the same system, that was my first time in the same system. I had three different offenses before I got there in two years, so that was kind of tough but I learned a lot. I learned a lot, and those were three different types of systems. The one I played in my rookie year and I played in when I got to Green Bay, they were kind of similar, so that helped when I had to get on the field quickly. But I'm definitely grateful for both of those places, for Tennessee and Green Bay. I learned a lot from both, regardless if I could show it in Tennessee."
(Before signing you, this organization said there will be competition in the quarterback room. Have you been communicated that or have you been told you are QB1 from Day 1?) – "I think it's competition at every position. I think it's competition between the coaches. I think we compete each day to earn our spot here. It's not a given for anything, and I don't think it should be. I think we should be competing for everything every day. That's the only way we're going to continue to get better and grow. You don't want to get stale, and you just think everything's everything and become complacent, because these guys out here are too good. These other teams are too good, and if you slack off or take off, they're going to show you on Sunday. Everybody has good players."
(Do you have a message to the city, to the fans and to your new teammates?) – "The only message I have for them is I'm blessed to be here. I'm grateful for you guys, and I'm ready to get this thing going, Fins Up!"
